One Moment
by ookami desu
Summary: All it took was one moment; the one moment where you meet someone and they capture you with one look, one gesture, or one word. Or in my case, all of the above. AU! Warning: Yuri! Bumbleby!
1. Coffee Break

**Disclaimer: **I do not own RWBY or characters. They are Monty's babies. But if I did, Yang would be my personal heater in this crazy winter. .;

**A/N:** My first RWBY fic even though it has been my obsession for the past few months. I can't wait for Volume 02 to come out! xD

Before I even posted this here, I was talking about my story with depression76 and requested that she draw a scene from here. It can be found: depression76 . deviantart . c_o_m / art / Coffee-Shop-AU-427889122 (remove unnecessary underscores in c_o_m; fanfiction removes it otherwise)

Please enjoy!

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><p>"Coffee, please," I ordered as I stepped forward to the counter. "Black."<p>

The man behind the cash register stared at me for a moment before responding, but when he did, it was my turn to do a double-take.

"I'm sorry. We don't serve faunus folk," he uttered, not sounding sorry at all.

When his words registered, my eyes narrowed as I continued to stare at him, willing for his head to spontaneously combust. There were a lot of words I wanted to say to him, but in the end, decided it would just be a waste of time and energy to argue. So, I turned on my heels and angrily started my way towards the door of this discriminatory establishment. In my anger, I failed to realize that someone was behind me, so without even taking three steps, I collided with a blonde-haired woman.

"Sorry," I apologized. But the rest of my apology died in my throat as she waved away my next words with a smile and a wink.

A piece of napkin was discreetly shoved into my hands, forcing me to divert my attention away from the friendly stranger as I read it. _Wait outside._ Before I could ask about it, she already walked forward to make an order. When I realized that I was just standing there dumbly, I continued the rest of my way to the door, trashing the napkin on my way out.

Normally, I wouldn't listen to a piece of paper. Especially not a piece of paper that instructed me to do something where I didn't understand why. And it wasn't really like I was waiting, as it said. I was simply staying put as I composed my thoughts outside of the coffee shop when suddenly, a cup of coffee was held right in front of my eyes. I looked past the cup to the person who was holding it and found the smiling blonde stranger.

"Coffee?" she asked.

"I can't. That's yours," I shook my head.

"I don't like black coffee. I like mine with two creams and three sugars," she replied, then shook the cup in front of me a little. "This is black. Just like you ordered. Take it."

My body moved on it's own as I reached for the cup, a smile finding its way to my lips. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she replied with a smile. Then, she turned on her heels and began walking away, giving me a quick 'later' as she did so.

I took a small sip of the coffee and couldn't help but think that it was sweeter than usual. Maybe this establishment roasted their beans a little differently than most. Or maybe, it was because this was free, given to me by a very sweet and mysterious stranger.

- 0 -

"Hey Blakey!" my colleague called as soon as I walked into the office.

"Morning, Nora," I replied. "Unnaturally energetic in the morning, as always."

"Got your coffee from a new place? How'd you find it? Did someone recommend this place to you? I wonder who did the recommending. Are they a good friend of yours? I should know this person. I know this person, right?"

"I had to run an errand this morning, so I went a different route. I just picked this up on the way in," I answered, taking another sip of the coffee, which was nearly empty now.

Nora was about to go off on another rant again, but was interrupted when my boss walked into the office, so she turned her attention to him instead. "Good morning, Ren!"

"Morning Nora. G'morning Blake," he greeted. Then, with his attention still on me and a small smile on his lips, he pointed to the top of his head. "Forget something?"

I let out an audible exhale as my folded my cat ears flat against my head. "I was in a hurry this morning and forgot about the bow. I'm sorry."

"You know I don't mind seeing them. And you know no one else in the office does. You don't have to hide yourself, Blake. I was just noting that it's a rare occasion to see you let your other ears breathe. You should do it more often."

"Yeah... maybe," I replied.

He smiled and nodded at me before disappearing into his office. As soon as he left, I turned my attention back to Nora, expecting her to continue her earlier rant. Instead, the topic of discussion changed to follow up Ren's.

"I agree with him. I don't see why you always try to hide them. They're cute."

"They make everyday life difficult. Not everyone is as tolerant as you and Ren," I replied, moving to take a seat at my cubicle. The orange-haired woman followed after me. "Just this morning, this coffee shop refused to sell me coffee because I'm a faunus."

Nora looked at my cup and gave me a questioning look.

"A nice stranger bought this for me," I answered.

"See? They didn't care. They even bought an extra cup for you," she countered with a grin.

"Actually," I paused, thinking. "She only got one cup... which she gave... to... me." The realization hit me like a tsunami. She was in a coffee shop. Why didn't she get anything for herself?

"Well, that was sweet of her. Was she hot?"

"I guess? She had a really bright smile."

"Blake. I hope you got her name," Nora said to me seriously.

"Well, she left pretty quickly, so I didn't really... ask," I finished meekly. "Why?"

She let out a frustrated groan before she started her whine rant. "Blaakkkeeeeyyyy! She was hitting on you. As in, flirting. As in, 'hey, I'm really interested in you so let's do stuff together'. As in, 'I want to get to know you better'. As in, you should have ask her for her name since she went through all that trouble to buy you coffee at a coffee shop that didn't serve you coffee when you wanted coffee. As in, you're a total idiot, Blake! She was hot! And sweet. And nice. And thoughtful. And HOT! Why didn't you ask for her name?!"

"I'm sorry!" I retorted. "I didn't think to at the time, okay? I thought she was just being nice. And she was the one who left in a hurry anyway. I doubt she was hitting on me. If she wanted to get to know me better, she should have asked for my name!"

She stared at me like I was crazy before facepalming. Then, in a defeated tone, she said, "I can't believe you, Blakey."

I watched as she slowly slinked her way back to her cubicle, the same hopeless expression on her face as she stared at me from time to time. I returned her stare blankly, not knowing or caring for its reason.

Work continued on uneventfully. Like Ren said, most people didn't mind my cat ears, and the few who did kept their distance from me as they whispered amongst themselves. When Nora noticed how other people's discomfort made me a little uneasy, she offered to break their legs for me. I chuckled at her and called her a jokester before moving on, but a part of me felt that maybe she wasn't joking at all.

- 0 -

"Aww, you're wearing that bow again, Blakey," Nora frowned as soon as I walked in that morning. "I like it better when you don't. You know you don't have to worry what other people think. I can even make them stop thinking by breaking their legs!"

"Nora," I sighed. "No. It's really not that big of a deal."

"Then why do you keep wearing that?" she asked, gesturing to the accessory atop my head. "Show me the kitty ears like you did that day when you met sweet, hot, and thoughtful whose name you didn't get."

Ever since that day, Nora never let me forget the sweet blonde woman I met, who I've taken to calling 'stranger' in my head. Every day, my orange-haired colleague would bring her up at least once to tease me and to remind me how I needed to somehow find her again. To which I would calmly express my faux disinterest and move on with the work day.

Faux disinterest. Because who am I kidding? I am very interested and I very much want to find this woman again. To say thank you for the coffee, if nothing else. I've even intentionally gone out of my way to retrace the route I took that day, but to no avail. So with no results in the past two weeks that I tried, I've decided to give in. Except that didn't mean Nora would let me.

"We're going out tonight!" she declared during lunch break.

"No we're not. You're going out tonight. I'm staying in with a good book," I retorted.

"No you're not. You can't refuse me because I'm just going to kidnap you and force you to come with me anyway. I know where you work and where you live and what your favorite bookstore is. You can run, but you can't hide. And you can't outrun me anyway."

"Please give me a break, Nora," I protested. "I'm tired and my long-awaited weekend is about to greet me. Don't take this away from me."

"Which is exactly why we should go out and relax and have some fun. You can read your book tomorrow. Blakeeeyyyyy! Come on!"

I gave her a look her that said 'do I really have to?'.

"Why don't you like fun?" she deadpanned.

"Hey! That's not fair. I love fun. We just have very different ideas of what fun is," I replied indignantly.

"We're going out tonight," she said with finality before standing up. "I'll come by to get you at 8. Don't even think about ignoring me. I will knock your door down."

Then, without waiting for my response, she hopped out of the room, leaving me to groan to myself.

- 0 -

"What did you say, asshole?!" Nora yelled, balling her fists.

"Nora," I tugged on her shirt, trying to get to shift her attention me, but to no avail.

As promised, Nora came to pick me up at 8 and the first thing she did after seeing me was to tear the bow off of my head, declaring that I didn't need it. When I tried to reason with her, she stood firm on her ground, insisting that I enjoy myself as I am. I tried to warn her... I really did. Trouble tended to follow me wherever I go when people see my cat ears, but she didn't believe me.

Until we were sitting at a bar downtown and some guys came up to me. They said things to me that I was used to hearing, but still hurt nonetheless. Telling me that I'm a degenerate and a freak; that I should leave because I'm not welcomed; that I'm a troublemaker and causing a disturbance with my presence.

When Nora caught wind of this, her mood plummeted at a frightening rate as she came to my 'rescue'. I tried to tell her it was okay and that we should leave to avoid trouble, but she didn't want any of it. Which led me to my current predicament.

"Whatcha getting so mad for?" the guy Nora was yelling at answered. "I just called it like it is. She's a freak. A fucking disgrace to humanity, and she shouldn't be here cause she's bothering people."

"She's a faunus," the orange-haired woman corrected. "She didn't do anything to bother anyone. _You're_ the one who's bothering people, so _you're_ the one who shouldn't be here!"

"Nora..." I pulled on her with a little more force, but she just shrugged me off and continued forward.

"It's people like you that make this world a worse place. What makes you so much more superior than everyone else, Mr-I-think-I'm-so-awesome-but-I'm-really-just-a-prick-who-has-low-self-esteem-and-need-to-step-on-other-people-to-make-me-feel-better-about-myself."

Oh... that did it. This was not going to end well for us.

The guy's facial expression hardened as he lunged forward and punched Nora in the gut. She recoiled from the impact, but was able to recover from it quick enough to deliver a nasty right hook to his face. The fight that broke out didn't last long, as the establishment's security came rushing in to stop the commotion and kick the troublemakers out. That didn't stop either parties from dealing out as much damage as they could in the time given though.

"You're bleeding," I noted as I saw her forearm once we were outside.

"Ah, yeah," she replied absently. "Must have happened when I was knocked onto that table. I remember broken glass or something."

"I'm sorry. It's because of me that -"

"No," she injected, effectively cutting me off. "_I'm_ sorry, Blake. I'm sorry for the discrimination that you have to face; all the crap that you have to deal with because people just can't seem to open their minds a little bit; all the stupid words and looks that people give you because you're just trying to be you. But most of all, I'm sorry I didn't understand til now. I thought, 'how bad could it be?', you know? I thought, 'I'll help get her out of her shell and let her see that it's really not that bad', but in the end, all I did was prove you right; prove that it really is that bad. So, I'm sorry, Blake. I was insensitive."

That put a smile to my lips. Because not only did she pick a fight in a bar on my behalf, she didn't put any blame on me for said fight. And she was finally acknowledging all the hardships that I had to endure because of something that I was born as. On this one night, she has acknowledged it, accepted it, and tried to change it by standing up for me.

"You're a good friend, Nora," I replied. "And we should get you to a hospital. I'm thinking you're going to get some stitches."

She groaned. "Can't we just skip that and go home."

"No. I came out as you requested. Now, you're going to the hospital and get patched up as I requested."

- 0 -

When we arrived to the hospital, I immediately deposited Nora into the ER, but since I was neither spouse nor family, I was told to wait in the waiting room. After much sitting around, doing nothing and fiddling with my fingers, I was finally able go in to visit my friend.

"Hey," I said to Nora as I walked to her side. "How do you feel?"

"Like someone poked me with a needle a million times," she replied.

A chuckle caught my attention as someone emerged from behind the separator. "That's cause I did poke you with a needle about a million times; twenty-three, to be exact."

When I looked to see why the voice sounded familiar, my throat constricted at the familiar sight of blonde hair, lilac-colored eyes, and a bright smile. Miss stranger was donning a long white coat and a stethoscope to denote her status as a doctor.

I couldn't believe it. I was not prepared for this. I've looked for this woman for two weeks and got absolutely zero results, but when I decided to give up and just try to hang out with Nora, she suddenly showed herself? I felt like I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, but now that she was actually here, I found that I could barely ask. Hell, not only was finding words difficult, finding my voice was a grueling task in and of itself.

I have never been more thankful in my life for one of Nora's rants. Once she entered, Nora caught her attention immediately, which gave me a little bit of time to rid myself of the 'deer caught in the headlights' look and get composed. When I finally pulled myself together, I caught bits and pieces of their conversation. Nora must have finished her 'I hate needles' rant, because by the time I tuned in again, the doctor was giving her instructions on proper care for stitches. I waited patiently until they were done talking before I spoke up.

"Hi doctor," I greeted, suddenly very aware and nervous. "Um, I don't know if you remember-"

"I remember," she interrupted, smile in place. "How was the coffee?"

"It was- it was good," I answered almost automatically. I was caught off guard when she interrupted my carefully scripted conversation starter. I found it somewhat difficult to improvise, causing me to have to rake my brain to come up with the words I wanted to say. "Thanks. For the coffee, I mean."

"Don't mention it. I'll go get the rest of the paperwork done for your friend. After I get back and hand you what you need, you're both free to go," she replied, going back to work-mode.

"R-Right! Thank you," I gave a deep bow.

As soon as she left, I could almost feel Nora's stare laughing at me.

"Blakey~!" her singsong voice failed to hide her amusement. "Was _that_ sweet, hot, and thoughtful? Cause damn, Blake! She wasn't just hot, she was on fire!"

I facepalmed and nearly gave myself whiplash as I turned to look at her. "Nora!" I hissed. "Don't call her that. What if she's right outside?"

"Oooh! I knew it was a good idea to go out tonight! When she gets back, you better ask for her name."

As if on cue, the doctor waltz back in holding a stack of papers. She sorted through them as she re-iterated proper care for stitches and handed Nora some of the papers she was juggling with.

"So is everything clear? Do you have any questions?" she asked, looking at her patient.

Nora's blatant stare in my direction led the doctor's attention to me, and I knew what the orange-haired woman wanted me to do, but I couldn't. My mind grew blank as soon as her eyes laid on me; her calm yet curious expression wondering why it was that Nora decided to defer answering the question to someone who wasn't even hurt.

I felt a light kick on the back of my thigh, Nora's way of nudging me, but when I tried to speak up, all that came out was a squeak. One that I hoped was barely audible, because I could just about die from embarrassment. I very rarely lost my composure, and even more rarely lost words; so how was it that this woman could do this to me with just one _look_?

"Yeah," Nora spoke up when she realized I couldn't. "What's your name?"

She seemed a bit taken aback by the question, but answered nonetheless. "It's Yang. Doctor Yang."

"Yang what?"

"Yang Xiao Long," she replied, a bit confused.

"Thanks, Doc. And thanks for taking care of me. We'll be going now."

With that, Nora hopped off of the bed she was sitting on and pulled me out with her. I was only able to manage a quick thank you as I was being tugged away.

* * *

><p>Originally, I meant to finish the fic before posting it. But I've been sitting on this for a few weeks now and just haven't really found the timemotivation to continue. I figured I'd just post it and see if anyone is even interested before continuing. Please review! It shows that there is interest. :D

And if anyone wants to or have the time to draw any portion of this story, please do so! I want to see more bumblebys! And if you do, please show me. xD

I'm wayyy behind on my beta work again. I'm sorry RS. T_T


	2. Doctor Visits

**Disclaimer:** I do not own RWBY or characters. Just the plot. If I did, bumbleby would be canon. Just saying... :D

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to get the second chapter out. I actually had a really hard time trying to decide which direction I wanted this fic to take. xDD This is pretty raw in that I pretty much just finished writing this. I didn't even really proofread this yet, so excuse all the mistakes that you will inevitably come across. If I'm not lazy, I might go back and do that.

* * *

><p>"Blakey! You should visit her," Nora said, seemingly out of nowhere.<p>

"Hm?" I asked, not knowing what she was talking about.

Admittedly, my mind wasn't focused on the conversation at all. I was frantically checking and double-checking all the materials I had to send out to Ren before the close of business day, which was in approximately ten minutes. I glanced at the master list on the screen and checked it against the title of the files in the system, making sure I didn't miss anything before compressing the entire folder and sending it out to my boss. After I have sent it out, I turned to Nora and gave her my full attention.

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" she deadpanned.

"Sorry, Nora. I needed to make sure I had everything in by the deadline," I replied.

"It's not like it was a reasonable request to begin with. It's a miracle you were able to finish everything they threw at you in the timeline that was given. I don't think Ren would have minded if you sent him the files a tiny bit late."

"I promised, therefore, I will deliver. Note to self though: never do that again."

"You should visit her," she repeated.

"Who?" I asked, perplexed.

I slept very little in the past week due to that last assignment, which I literally just finished, and now that I was done with what I needed to do, my brain has checked out for the night. Maybe even the weekend.

"Sweet, hot and thoughtful!" she replied, her tone telling me that it should have been obvious. "You know, the hot doctor?"

"You know, that sounds like a really great idea and all, but I have something in mind that's even better," I replied.

"Um," she gave me a confused look. "Like...?"

"Sleeping. Going home, stripping down, and passing out for the next two days."

"Blakey~! Come on!"

"Nora, no. Not this time," I replied as I stood up and collected my belongings.

"But it's been-"

"Sleep. I've literally had only 12 hours of sleep this week, _total_! I will sleep. I will rest. And then, I might visit Dr. Yang, okay?"

Nora just stared blankly back at me, which I took as my cue to leave before she started trying to talk me into anything. If I didn't take the opportunity to escape when I could, I fear that I might be stuck arguing with her for another hour about how now is not a good time to be meeting anyone.

- 0 -

I woke up to the alternating sounds of the doorbell and loud knocking on my door. I tried to ignore to it, in hopes that it'll just go away if left unattended for a while. Unfortunately, the source of my misery did not seem to take the hint and continued the harsh sounds, causing me to grow irritated.

Willing myself to leave the bed, I slowly rolled over to my back and gave a small sigh as the knocking continued. I groaned to myself and rubbed sleep from my eyes before I finally found the energy to slide off the bed and walked to the door.

"Can I help you?" I asked, rather testily, as I opened the door.

When I actually looked at the person on the other side though, my heart stopped. Standing there in grey slacks and light yellow button-up shirt was the woman that Nora insisted I visit. She stared back at me, unsure of how to react. When I realized the situation I was in, I panicked and reflexively slammed the door shut so that she would not see the state that I was in: wearing nothing but a tank top and boxers with messy bed-hair.

I pinched myself, because there was no way this was real. It was a dream. A very realistic and weird dream. Not that seeing Yang again wasn't a good thing, but did it have to be _**now**_?

"Um, if this is a bad time, I can come back later," she called through the door.

"No!" I quickly opened the door again and pulled her into my apartment.

I've officially entered the zone where I had no idea what I was doing. My body was doing and saying things without first consulting my brain. Not good. Not good at all. She probably thought I was really weird right now. Quick, I needed to say something; maybe offer an explanation. Just... something!

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I heard you were sick..."

"I'm fine!" And then, realizing that I was _still_ in my sleepwear, I bolted back to my room. "Um, make yourself at home. I need to... yeah..."

Twenty-three minutes later, after I've changed and washed up, I returned to the living room, where Yang sat patiently on my couch, reading one of the books I left on the coffee table.

"I'm really sorry about that. I didn't... I wasn't expecting guests," I apologized lamely. "Wait... how did you know where I lived? And what are you doing here? I mean- not that you aren't welcomed here. You're very welcomed. It's just... I don't understand."

"Ah, yeah," she replied, closing the book she held in her hands. "When your friend came in to get her stitches removed, she mentioned to me about how you've been working yourself sick lately. She insisted that I come check in on you. Something about me being more qualified because I was a doctor? She was talking kind of fast so I didn't really catch much. Oh, but I did catch her promise of bodily harm if I didn't."

"I'm really, really sorry about that. You really didn't have to humor her. I mean, she talks a lot but you don't have to listen. And she talks big, but I don't think she'd really hurt you or anything. And um, thanks."

She chuckled. "Well, I'm already here so there's not much we can do about it. She mentioned you were sick, but you don't really seem it."

_I'm going to kill Nora. I know she meant well and I know that she was just trying to push me along, but she is so dead. Deader than dead. She doesn't even have nine lives, but I'm going to kill her nine times. And then nine more times for good measure._

"I'm not. I was just sleep-deprived. There was a project that we had several weeks to do, but the person who was in charge of it didn't seem to be getting things done in a timely fashion. In the last two weeks, my boss decided to hand over the project to me, so I've been working some extreme overtime."

"You probably should have asked for an extension on that project. I'm sure they would have given you a little more time considering you had to take over for someone else."

"Yeah... hindsight is always 20/20," I replied. "I'm sorry. I'm being rude. Did you want anything to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea? Juice?"

"Nah. Thanks though. I think I'll just go since I have a few errands I need to run before the day is over. But hey, can I borrow this book?" she asked, holding the book's cover in my direction as she stood up and started her way towards the door. "I read through the beginning when you were getting ready, and I'm kinda hooked."

I followed her, holding the door open for her as she stepped through."Ye-Yeah! Sure. That's actually the start of a series, so you can borrow the second one when you return the first. Um, that is, if you want. If you find that you don't like it, tha-that's cool too."

"Yeah, we'll see. I like mysteries and action though, so I think I'll enjoy the series," she said with a wink. "Later."

I watched her back as she walked away, giving a small wave much like the one from when we first met outside of that coffee shop.

- 0 -

Nora squeaked like a cornered mouse when I found her at her hiding spot. "C-Calm down, Blake. There's no need for violence."

"Really? Because your actions spoke otherwise," I seethed. "How dare you give away my address? Even worse, how dare you give away _my_ address to Dr. Yang and _threaten_ her to visit me the day after my crazy deadline? And you _lied_ to her."

"Hey! I didn't lie to-"

"You told her I was _sick_," I cut her off, holding my fist up in preparation for my attack.

"C-Come on, Blake. I was just concerned about your health," she replied, eying my fist warily. "I-It saved you the trouble of having to visit her."

My lips tightened and my eyes narrowed at her excuses. She squeaked when she saw how my facial features changed, which was shortly followed by a loud "Ow!" as she felt my fist collide with the top of her head.

"Blakey..." she whined, rubbing the spot I hit. "I said I was sorry."

I huffed as I turned away from her. "That's what you get for minding my business. I have to get back to work now. You better reflect on your rash actions."

"Blakeyyy! Wait!" she called after me as she followed me back to my desk. "Tell me how the visit went."

I glared at her after taking my seat, before returning my attention back to the monitor in front of me. "Get back to work."

"How long are you gonna stay mad at me?" she pouted.

"I haven't decided yet. Right now, it's in the general timeframe of 'long'," I answered, still not looking at her.

The memory of answering the door while still in my sleepwear replayed itself. Remembering the look on Dr. Yang's face when she saw me caused my face to heat up, in both embarrassment and anger. And then, like a bad host, I disappeared from her for twenty minutes to wash up right after pulling her into my apartment. I barely even remembered to offer her anything to drink. And judging by how quickly she left, I probably shouldn't have kept her waiting with nothing but my books for company. I don't even want to imagine what she thought of me.

"Blake...?" Nora's small voice reached my ears.

"What?" I groaned, burying my face into my palm.

"Was it that bad?"

"I'm not talking to you," I replied.

"What? You're mumbling into your hand."

Facing her, I repeated what I said earlier. "I've decided I'm not talking to you until I forgive you. Get back to work."

I watched as she slowly slunk back to her desk, worry and guilt obvious from her aura.

- 0 -

It proved hard to stay mad at Nora for too long when she sulked, so by the end of the day, I wished her a good night on my way out, signaling the end of my silent treatment towards her. I could tell how happy she was when she realized I forgave her. Her eyes lit up, slowly at first before bulging as realization hit her. I didn't stay long enough to see what she did when her body finally caught up with her mind, but I pictured her jumping around hyperactively, throwing her hands into the air in celebration.

Immediately the next morning, she announced that we should go out to celebrate the end of our fight. If anything, I knew it was just an excuse to pull me out of my apartment, away from my precious books, and out into the noisy streets of Vale to join her in her insanity. Normally I wouldn't have minded, but I was feeling lazy and didn't have the energy to keep up with her antics, so I promised her that I would spend all of Saturday with her instead. It took a lot of convincing, and then some, before she acquiesced. And even then, I could tell she wasn't all too happy with the idea.

When Saturday rolled around, I made sure to wake up early in anticipation that Nora would show up at my apartment first thing in the morning to hold me to my word. I was ready by eight, but when my friend still haven't showed up by 8:30, I began to pass the time with a novel. An hour later, I began to worry if something happened to her, but decided to wait another half hour before calling, rationalizing to myself that we never actually set a time for our date and that I was just overthinking it.

At 9:55, the doorbell to my apartment rang. Upon hearing it, I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders as I went to open the door.

"You're later than I expected, Nor-" I paused when saw who was actually behind the door. "Doctor?"

She chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint, but it's just me. And just call me Yang. Doctor is a title, not a name."

"Um, r-right. Yang," I corrected myself. "Sorry. Um, come in. Make yourself at home."

I stepped to the side to let her through, suddenly very aware of how messy the living room was, littered with books in the every corner, table, and even seat. I quickly cleared off the books from the sofa and placed them off to a corner before offering the newly cleaned seat to my guest.

"I-I'm really sorry about the mess. I really need to invest in a bookshelf," I ranted. "I have too many books already and I just keep getting more. And they just kind of end up everywhere. And even though I kind of know where everything is, sometimes it's really hard to find the title I want."

"Don't worry about it. My own apartment is a mess too," she smiled reassuringly. "Though, if you really are serious about the bookshelf comment, I can help with that."

Her warm smile helped me relax a little. "I've been thinking about getting one of those do-it-yourself bookshelves, where I just get the pieces and put it together myself, but I just haven't really found the time and energy to do it," I replied. And then realizing that I am, once again, being a terrible host, I tried to backtrack. "Um, sorry. I'm being rude again. Did you want something to drink? I have tea, coffee, water, and... water."

"A little bit of water is fine. I don't plan to stay too long," she answered.

She followed me to the kitchen and watched as the I retrieved a clean glass from a cabinet before filling it with cold water.

"S-So what brings you here?" I asked as I handed her the glass, trying not to make it seem like I didn't enjoy her presence. I was genuinely curious.

"Thanks," she replied and took a sip before continuing. "I'm just returning the book you lent me. I left it on your coffee table, by the way. You mentioned that if I liked it, you would lend me the second one."

"A-Ah! Right. I did say that, didn't I? Let me go find it," I left my kitchen with her in tow, before stopping abruptly in my living room to ponder where I left the book she wanted. I searched a few places in the living room (which was pretty much all the corners and tables), but to no avail.

A chuckle from above me caught my attention, causing me to look up and find very amused violet staring back at me. "Looks like you really need that bookshelf."

"Looks like it," I replied sheepishly as I slowly stood from my kneeling position on the floor. "I could have sworn I left it in that pile though..."

If memory served me right, it _should_ be in the living room. But what if I brought it to my room and forgot to bring it back out?

"On second thought, be right back," I said to her as I made my way to my room. Two minutes later, I walked out triumphantly with the book in my hand. "Ah ha! Found it!"

She chuckled again as I handed her the book, "I still think you need that bookshelf."

"I know," I admitted. "I'll get it. Someday."

"If you're not doing anything tomorrow, I could hook you up with one like I said I could," she offered. "Don't worry. It'll be painless. I promise."

"I-I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

"Great, then it's decided. I'll drop by tomorrow at around 10."

"...in the morning?" I asked, confused.

She chuckled, again! Am I that amusing?

"Yes," she replied. "In the morning. Did you prefer something in the afternoon?"

"Oh, no. It's not that. I just... are you sure? I could just get it myself. There's no need to inconvenience you for such a simple task."

"I offered, didn't I?" she grinned. "Besides, something tells me that if I left you to it on your own, you probably wouldn't get it for a while."

I felt heat rise to my face as she said this, partially because it was true and partially because she just made a guess at my personality. Just as I was about to respond, the sound of my doorbell rang through my apartment.

"Um, excuse me," I said as I moved to open the door.

"Blakey!" Nora yelled as she tackle-hugged me back into the apartment. "Sorry I'm late! Ren came over and made pancakes and then we just started talking about a bunch of random things and I lost track of time." Then, as she released me from her grasp to walk further into the apartment, her eyes stayed transfixed on the other visitor I had. "And whoa! Doctor Yang? What're you doing here?"

I closed the door to my apartment and walked over to where the two were standing.

"I just came to return something. And how are you doing? Scars from the stitches healing up alright?" she returned.

"Yup! Are you free? Do you wanna join us for our day of fun?"

She chuckled, "I was actually just about to leave. I promised my sister that I'll go to this thing that she's participating in, so I'll have to pass on the day of fun. Maybe next time."

"Definitely!" Nora chipped. "And you're welcome to being friends."

"I'll keep that in mind." The twinkle in her eyes told me that she found Nora very amusing. "Anyway, tomorrow, don't forget," she said to me as she made her way towards the door.

I followed after her. "R-Right, I won't. But even if I do, you'll probably wake me." I added, remembering what happened the last time she visited.

After seeing her out, the second I turned my attention back to my hyperactive companion, I saw her jumping with glee. The only response I could give to this was a stoic stare as I waited for her to calm down.

"What's happening tomorrow?" she asked, still bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

"We're going shopping for a bookshelf."

"Boo. That's boring."

"Why don't we get to this 'day of fun' you have in mind?" I said, effectively cutting off any more opportunities for her to dwell on why Yang was in my apartment in the first place. For the next hour or so, anyway.

* * *

><p>Alright... yes. Doctor Yang makes more appearances, yay! Let me know what you guys think and drop a review. Thanks! :D<p>

Next chapter, I think I'll introduce a conflict to get things going. The intro's are pretty much done, though there are still a few other people that I need to bring in, but those will come in due time. I has plans. :3


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